Richland County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Charged with Accepting Bribe

A one-count criminal information was filed against William Franklin Jr., a lieutenant with the Richland County Sheriff’s office, charging him with accepting $2,000 in cash and an automobile in return for giving an inmate credit for time served to which he was not entitled, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Franklin, age 49, of Mansfield, Ohio, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The information charges that Franklin, while acting in his official capacity, used his position to send to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation false and fraudulent information relating the amount of credit for time served to be awarded to an inmate transferred from the Richland County jail to a state prison institution.

The information charges that Franklin created and sent a document giving the inmate approximately 66 days of credit that the inmate did not earn and the inmate was thereby released prior to the expiration of his legally pronounced sentence. In return and in payment for engaging in this official conduct, Franklin accepted things of value, including among other things, more than $2,000 in cash and a Saturn SL1 automobile valued at approximately $2,500, according to the information.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert F. Corts following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.